Invasion of the
Ryukyu Kingdom and Japanese and Ming Relations
The Journal of
Oriental Researches (The Toyoshi-Kenkyu) 68-3, 2009.
[Abstract]
The
Ryukyu kingdom was defeated in the invasion of 1609 by the Satsuma domain of
the Shimazu clan, with the result that the kingdom came to be brought into the
political orbit of Tokugawa Japan, while maintaining its tributary relationship
with Ming China that had been in place since the latter half of the 14th
century. As has been made clear in previous research, the chief goal of the
invasion was not total political control of the Ryukyu by either the bakufu or
Satsuma domain but to have the Ryukyu kingdom play the role of intermediary in
trade negotiations between the bakufu and the Ming court. Behind this, development
was a thriving civilian trade in Asian waters involving Japanese silver and
Chinese raw silk thread. Thus after the invasion, the bakufu frequently commanded
the Shimazu to have the Ryukyu kingdom serve as an intermediary in negotiations
between Japan and the Ming, while around the same time demanding that the Korean
government or Ming traders who had come to Japan serve as similar intermediaries,
but these efforts did not prove fruitful. As a result, Ming China and Japan,
who were ultimately unable to establish official diplomatic ties, formed an
indirect relationship via Ryukyu kingdom, which had formal relations with both
states (assuming the position of a subject of each). This situation continued
after Ming was replaced by the Qing and was maintained until the middle of the
19th century.
Therefore, the invasion of the Ryukyu kingdom can be said as an event that
determined the relations among the three countries, Ryukyu, Japan and China, in
the early modern period.
In this article, I focus on such
a historical significance of the invasion of the Ryukyu and organize and
analyze historical sources from Ryukyu, Japan and China concerning the
movements of each country with regard to an invasion. This attempt can be
summed up in the following three points. First,
I examine the reaction of the Ming to the invasion and also its influence on
the Ming in detail, which has not been accorded sufficient attention. For instance,
it has not been recognized that a number of problems regarding the invasion
were placed on the civil examinations.
Second, I make a comprehensive explanation of the facts as seen in the actions
of the Ryukyu kingdom as an intermediary in Japan-Ming trade (about which there
is no scholarly consensus) based on a critical examination of the source
materials. Third, I attempt to grasp the situation comprehensively in terms of
East Asian international relations and in particular the relationship of the
Ming and Japan without viewing the historical significance of the invasion of
the Ryukyu kingdom in terms of resistance against baku-han regime nor as part of the gprocess of making the Ryukyu
kingdom the puppet of Satsuma or the bakufuh or the gabandonment of
subjectivity by the Ryukyu in (resisting Satsuma or the bakufu).h
Consequently I have demonstrated that 1) for
both Japan and the Ming the Ryukyu kingdom was an important strategic element
in its relations with the other, and each state tried to pull the Ryukyu
kingdom in its own direction while keeping a wary eye on its rival, and 2) the Ryukyu
kingdom expressed its self consciousness as an subjective entity to both Japan
and the Ming, and as a result of its active efforts to attain a place in the
limited space between these two larger neighbors, the international position of
early-modern Ryukyu could be established.